by Jane Jamison
* * * *
Joe took the beers Milly scooted across the counter then carried them to the table where Jackson Carr, Joe, and a couple of other men sat. They’d spent the past two hours discussing ways to find the teen pack. Once they did, they’d haul them in for questioning. If the teens had parents, they’d call them first. If they didn’t, then they’d have no choice but to call a pack meeting and decide what to do with them.
“You’re sure Harry’s mixed up in this?”
He gave Jackson a quick nod. “You know he is.”
Joe thought back to their earlier ride with Harry. He hated how he’d lost control with the boy. But hearing anyone, much less Bonnie’s own son, say awful things about her had driven all patience out of him.
“Are we in agreement then?” Sal Nidan, a rancher who rarely got involved in anything not directly affecting his ranch, lifted an eyebrow at Joe. “We send out a search party to track this gang down. And whoever’s with them gets held accountable for my barn and everyone else’s damages. Are we straight?”
Joe didn’t like Sal much, but he couldn’t deny the man his due. The gang had torn part of his barn door off last night and scattered Sal’s horses. “Yeah, we’re straight.”
Damn it, Harry. Why’d you have to hook up with those kids?
Casey nursed his beer, but his silence was his agreement.
Joe stood, wanting to get it over with. He’d signed on to be part of the first search team. “Okay, then, let’s get moving. We can leave our clothes out back and shift. But remember, we do everything we can to make sure no one gets hurt.”
Sal gave a snort. “Yeah, sure. Still, if I get my paws on one of those little bastards, I can’t promise I won’t rip his head off.”
Sal wasn’t making Joe like him any better. “Sal, damn it. Keep your temper in check. They’re just kids and—”
“Joe? Casey?”
Joe pivoted to face a stunned-looking Milly. “What is it?”
“Miss Clara just called. She was driving by your place.” Milly’s voice trembled.
“Yeah?” What had Milly so worked up?
“She said your house is on fire.”
* * * *
Bonnie wet two towels and gave one to Harry. The smoke was thickening, and the fire was like an evil creature bent on their destruction. They had mere minutes before they’d succumb to the smoke.
“Bonnie, are you really going to kill your son?”
She’d never hated anyone before, but she hated Dirk. Harry’s coughing grew louder. Smoke clogged her throat and stung her eyes.
I don’t have a choice. I have to get Harry out.
She started for the door, hurrying Harry before her. “Go! Get out!”
They burst out the back door and stumbled down the steps. She cried out as they both fell to their knees. Her chest felt like a thousand swords were stabbing her on the inside.
But she wasn’t on her knees for long. Dirk took her by the arm and jerked her to her feet. She fought to draw in fresh air between coughs. He dragged her along with him toward her car, and she struggled to stay on her feet.
“It’s about time you came to your senses.”
Summoning up what little strength she had left, she yanked her arm out of his hold. She staggered away from him, trying to get back to Harry who was still on his hands and knees. “Leave us alone!”
Dirk’s face blurred in front of her. He didn’t shift all the way, but enough to bring out his ferocious-looking fangs. His eyes blazed amber. “Damn it, Bonnie. I’ve had enough. You’re my woman and you’re coming with me.”
“No! I’ll never be with you.”
As though her words had finally sunk in, he stopped moving toward her. His furious glare frightened her to her core, but she kept her head high.
“Fine. Have it your way.” A wicked smile drew back to expose more of his fangs.
“Pack.” He pointed at her, his gesture a death sentence. “Tear her apart.”
“No!” Harry’s cry came out a straggled croak.
Bonnie wiped her eyes, struggling to clear her vision from the smoke-induced tears still burning them and turned toward Harry.
Her son was no longer there. Instead, his clothes lay in shredded strips on the ground. His broken shoes lay to the side of the dark wolf snarling at the others.
Dirk’s laughter filled the air as fire broke out the back windows and leapt to caress the roof and dance across the top of the RV. But she barely noticed. Instead, she watched her son crouch down, ready to fight.
* * * *
Casey’s stomach flipped over as they rounded the curve and their house came into sight. Flames engulfed the structure, hungry for the wooden frame building.
“Shit. We’re too late.”
He heard the pain in Joe’s voice, but it wasn’t the house he was concerned with. “Did you get hold of Bonnie?”
Joe tossed his phone onto the dash. “No. She’s not picking up.”
“Do you think she’s inside?”
Joe glanced at him, horror glinting in his widened eyes. “Damn, I didn’t even think about that. But she’s not. She never goes inside when we’re not there.”
“Let’s hope you’re right. Still, the RV’s close to the house. Too close.” Casey took the corner faster than ever then stomped the gas pedal to the floor. Gravel from the driveway flew up behind them, pelting Jackson’s pickup. Jackson and the other men had followed them, ready to help out, but they all knew it was hopeless. Forever didn’t have a fire department, and they’d be helpless against the fire that had already taken over both floors of the house. Casey moaned as the roof gave way, collapsing inward.
* * * *
Bonnie screamed as the pack of teen werewolves shifted then fell on top of Harry. He fought, snapping at their legs, their necks, anywhere he could bite. But he was no match for them.
She half crawled, half ran to Dirk and fell to her knees. The pack ignored her, focusing on her son. “Dirk, call them off. I’ll do anything you want. Just stop them before it’s too late.”
Dirk smiled down at her, his smile even more evil than before. “It’s already too late.”
She clapped a hand over her mouth, her cry strangled in her throat.
“He’s right. It’s too late.”
Joe!
She saw rage fill Dirk’s face a second before she turned toward the voice. Yet instead of just Joe, five large male wolves jumped onto the group of young wolves. Their enormous gaping jaws took hold of the teens and easily tossed them aside. Snarls mixed with yelps of pain as the adult wolves made easy prey of the young ones. They didn’t kill them, but towered over two or three at one time, subduing them into whimpering pups.
Bonnie rushed to her son’s side. The sticky warmth of his blood covered his dark fur and trailed over his body and his jaws. “Harry! Please, Harry!”
She wasn’t sure what she was begging him to do other than to stay with her. Her mind wouldn’t form a complete thought. Instead, she clung to him and pulled his body close to hers. His chest rose and fell with labored breathing.
“Bonnie.”
She glanced up, tears of heartache clouding her vision, and saw Casey’s dirt and blood-streaked face. “Please help him.”
He bent next to Harry and slid a hand over his bloody coat. “Let me take him, baby.”
“No.” The word came out as a whisper as she clung to Harry. She couldn’t lose him. Not now. Not ever.
“It’s okay. I promise. You can come with us.” Picking her son up as though he weighed nothing more than a baby, Casey drew his wolf body into his arms and stalked toward the barn.
The others rounded up the teens, but she paid no more attention to them as the world narrowed to include only her son. She hurried beside Casey, trying to stay as close to Harry as she could.
Casey rested Harry on the ground then grabbed a horse blanket and covered his wolf body. For one horrible moment, she was afraid he’d pull the blanket over her son’s face. Then
Harry’s body changed, fur receding as human skin covered him. Pointed ears grew rounder, softer, and bones broke and reformed. Within a couple of minutes, Harry was back in his human form.
She fell to her knees beside him. His wounds looked even worse on his pale flesh. “Oh, my sweet Harry.”
Joe joined them, coming to her side. “Bonnie, it’s okay. He’s going to live.”
She lifted her gaze to first Casey’s, then to Joe’s. “Are you sure?”
Casey touched her cheek and made her look at him again. “He’s a werewolf. We’re werewolves. We know this kind of thing.”
She cried then, releasing the fear that had overwhelmed her in sobs that racked her body. “Then why won’t he open his eyes?”
“It takes time. Especially for a young werewolf like him.” Joe wrapped his arm around her, yet even his warmth couldn’t rid her of the coldness shuddering through her body.
“What about the rest? About Dirk?” Casey craned his head back toward the yard, but didn’t move from her side.
“That slime ball Dirk got away. Jackson and the others are taking the teenagers into town. After that, they’re going to haul them back to Dallas and have a talk with the main pack leader. They’ll no doubt want to handle the kids in their own way.” Joe’s growl rumbled in his chest.
“I still wish we could’ve taken Dirk’s head off.” Casey’s growl matched Joe’s in vehemence.
“You and me both, brother, but he’ll get his. The Dallas pack is known for their strict adherence to pack rules. If Dirk shows up there, they’ll give him what he deserves and more.”
Bonnie kept her head down and her focus on Harry. She no longer cared what happened to either Dirk or the teen pack. All she cared about was her son.
“Bonnie, we saw what he did.”
She wiped away a tear and looked up at Joe. “He fought them for me. He saved me.”
“Yeah. He sure did. He stood up to them like a real man would.”
She’d worried about her son, but down deep, she’d known he’d come through for her.
“He took his place against them like a standup kind of guy. He’s a werewolf you can be proud of.” Casey checked Harry’s pulse then answered her unspoken question. “It’s stronger. Give him a little more time. He’s healing.”
“And Bonnie?”
“Yeah, Joe?” She sniffed, her tears drying, and she finally felt like she could breathe again. If they said Harry would be all right, then he would be. She trusted them with not only her son, but with her heart.
“I know the timing sucks, but we really want you to stay. You and Harry. For keeps.”
Casey slid his hand along her arm. “We love you, Bonnie. And we care about Harry, too. We can see him as our son, if he’ll have us. Either way, we’ll do right by him.”
She took their hands and held them to her chest. Harry stirred, moaning as his body repaired his wounds. “I love you, too.”
“Then you’ll stay?” Casey glanced back to the house that still burned. Only the chimney and one wall still stood. “We’ll build again. Any kind of house you want. With a big room for Harry.”
She didn’t care about the house. She’d live in a tent with them. “As long as Harry’s good with it, then yeah, we’ll stay.”
“Mom?” Harry looked up at her then shifted his gaze to each man.
“Oh, Harry.” She showered him with kisses. “Don’t you ever do anything like that again. You scared the hell out of me.”
“Mom, please.”
She stopped, but knew it would only be for a little while. The urge to kiss him, to make sure he was all right, would compel her to smother him with affection again soon enough. Whether he liked it or not. “Yes, honey?”
“Tell them you’ll stay.”
She inhaled, almost afraid to believe her ears. “Are you sure?”
Her son, the little boy she’d raised, had suddenly changed into a man. “I’m sure. I want to stay.”
Epilogue
“Mom, can I go into town?” Harry, fully recovered from the wounds inflicted by Dirk and his teen pack, bounded into the kitchen.
Bonnie paused in stirring the pot of stew on top of the stove. “How are you planning on getting there? Casey and Joe aren’t back yet.” The fire that had claimed the house had taken the RV, too. Thank goodness she’d purchased insurance on the rented vehicle.
Harry gave her a grin that looked more and more wolfish every day. “I’m going to run, of course.”
She lifted her eyebrows. “And once you get there, are you planning on waltzing around town butt naked?”
“Urgh, Mom. Come on. You know I’ve got clothes at Brick’s.”
“Yeah, I know. I was just teasing.” She turned back to the pot.
“Uh, Mom, one other thing.”
“What is it?”
“Brick’s going to take me around to the ranches where I did some of the damage.”
She waited, not wanting to push him now that he’d finally brought up the subject. The men and she had decided to let him talk about it when he was ready. “Oh?”
“Yeah. I want to apologize for everything I did and see if I can help out. You know. To make amends.”
Pride swelled in her. “I think that’s a terrific idea. I’m really proud of you, honey.”
“Thanks. So it’s okay to go?”
Things had changed a lot since the fire, including Harry’s attitude. “Sure. Just be sure you get home before dark, okay? I still worry.”
“You’ll always worry.”
She laughed. “True enough.”
The fire that had destroyed the Colter brothers’ home had happened a week earlier and was still fresh on her mind. Jackson Carr had come through with giving them a rental home to use until they could rebuild. At first she wasn’t sure Harry would want them living in the same house as Casey and Joe, but he hadn’t said anything against it. In fact, since the day of the fire, he’d grown closer to the men and had accepted them as part of their lives.
“Casey and Joe are almost home.”
She tilted her head, a gesture she’d picked up from hanging around three werewolves. Harry had a sixth sense about the Colter men. He could tell when they were close to the house even though she hadn’t heard their pickup. She wondered if they had their own connection, one born of running together at night, of becoming part of the same pack.
“Good. Dinner’s almost ready.” She waited, knowing what her son would say, then beat him to saying it. “Don’t tell me. You’re going to eat at Brick’s and then stay over.”
Staying over meant going for a long night run with Brick Wheaton. Brick was a good kid that they’d met a couple of days after the fire. He and Harry had become quick friends.
“Yeah, if that’s okay. Besides, I figure you three are due a little time alone.”
She was surprised that he would be so perceptive and so candid. “You do?”
Contradicting his next words, he rolled his eyes. “Gee, Mom, I’m not a kid any more. I know you guys are in love, and I also know that you do”—he grimaced— “you know what.”
She felt the blush rising to her cheeks. When she’d imagined talking about sex with her son, she hadn’t thought it’d be about the sex she was having.
Or rather, not having. Since the fire, she and the men had taken great lengths to keep their needs under control. Instead, she’d concentrated on nursing Harry back to health and on making the rental house as much of a home as possible.
The sound of their pickup pulling up to the front of the house interrupted her thoughts. “You were right. They’re home.”
Harry grinned and headed for the door. “What can I say? It’s a gift.”
She snatched the towel from the counter, spun it into a roll, then flicked it at him. “Go have some fun. And be sure to thank Brick’s mom.”
“Will do.” He hung onto the frame of the door, hanging his body half outside the door. “Oh, and Mom?”
“Yeah?”
; “You don’t have to escape out the bedroom window when I come home, you know.”
The warmth of the blush grew hotter. “Oh, my word, you knew about that?”
He snorted, reminding her of the way Joe snorted. “Of course I did. See ya!”
Bonnie watched her son dash across the yard toward the barn where he would undress then shift into wolf form. She heard the front door open, but kept her attention on the barn. In a couple of minutes, Harry bolted back outside, his strong wolf body carrying him quickly across the pasture.
She let out a yelp when someone grabbed her from behind. Casey rested his chin on her shoulder.
“What ’cha watching?”
She dropped the towel then turned on her heel to face him. He enveloped her and tugged her body closer. She couldn’t imagine a better spot anywhere else on the earth than in his arms. Except maybe in both his and Joe’s arms.
“Harry just took off for Brick’s house.”
“Good for him. Brick’s a nice kid and a full werewolf who knows how to handle being a werewolf. Harry can learn a lot from him.”
“Learn a lot from whom?” Joe strode into the kitchen, stopped and drew in a long breath. “Damn, but something smells good.”
She pushed out of Casey’s arms, mindful of their pledge to keep sex on the back burner. But was that still the case now that Harry knew? “Thanks. It’s my own recipe. Although I added a lot more meat than I usually do.”
Joe tugged her away from the stove. “I wasn’t talking about the stew.”
“We know Harry’s gone into town to stay at Brick’s.”
She glanced between them. “How do you know that?”
“Because he just texted us a half hour ago and told us.” Casey grinned.
She’d never blushed so much in her life. Maybe it was a good thing she’d returned Harry’s phone to him. “Why do I feel like I’ve been set up by my own son?”
“Because you have.” Joe grabbed hold of the collar of the loose dress she wore then slid his hand along her thigh. His eyes sparkled with flecks of amber.